Air circulating and conditioning device



March 4, 1947. w. R. MOBLEY AIR CIRCULATING AND CONIDITIONING DEVICE Filed Feb. 25, 1944 z'a 'fz Patented Mar. 4', 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE William R. Mobley, Miami, Fla. Application February 23, 1944, Serial No. 523,601

3 claims. l

This invention relates to air circulating devices, and has for its general object to provide a sim ple, inexpensive, compact air circulating device which is eii'ective to subject the air, during its circulation, to contact with a body of water or other liquid in a manner to cause the air to afford a high degree of comfort to a person upon whom it is directed when delivered from the device, especially during hot weather.

With the foregoing general object in view, the invention consists in an air circulating device embodying the novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and defined in the appended claims.

Figure 1 is a iront elevation of a device constructed in accordance with one practical embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the device shown in Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a horizontal section on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2.

Figure 4 is a transverse section on the line 4--4 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings in detail, it will be observed that the device comprises a casing, designated generally as A, and that said casing is of somewhat elongated, rectangular shape and includes a front wall I0. a top wall II, a bottom Wall I2 and end walls I3, I3. It will further be observed that a horizontal partition wall I4 is spaced above the bottom wall I2 and extends from front to rear of the casing and defines at the bottom of said casing a compartment a which is coextensive in length and width with said casing; that a pair of vertical partition walls I5, I5 are spaced from the end walls I3, I3, respectively, and extend from front to rear of the casing and between the top wall I2 and the partition wall I4 and dene, above the partition wall I4, a middle compartment b and a pair of end compartments c, c which` are coextensive in Width with the casing and in height with the distance between the partition I4 and the top wall I2 of the casing; that the compartments a and b are open at their rear ends, and that the compartments c, c are closed at their rear ends by walls I6, I6 which extend from the horizontal partition wall I4 to the top wall I2 and from the end walls I3, I3 to the vertical partition Walls I5, I5, respectively.

The horizontal partition wall I4 may be coextensive in length only with the middle compartment b or it may extend from end to end of the casing as shown, in which latter event it is provided in its end portions, beneath the compartments c, c, with openings I'I as shown. In any event, the compartments c, c, are in communication at their bottoms with the end portions of the compartment a. Moreover, the middle compartment b is in communication with the bottom compartment a through an opening I8 in the horizontal partition wall I4 located approximately centrally thereof, as shown, or, alternatively, through a plurality of openings in said partition wall located-approximately midway between its ends.

In the compartment b is an air circulating unit, designated generally as B, having side inlets I9 and a pair of front outlet ducts 20, and, as shown, the side inlets I9 of this unit are in communication with the compartments c, c through openings 2| in the vertical partition walls I5, I5, While the front outlet ducts 20 thereof are alined with air outlet openings 22, 22, respectively, in the casing front wall I0.

Either the sides of the unit B are disposed against the vertical partition walls I5, I5, as shown, orlany suitable means is employed to insure that all air entering the side inlets I9 of said unit iiows to said inlets from the compartments c, c. Likewise, the front ends of the outlet ducts 20 either are disposed against the casing front wall I0 or extend into the openings 22, 22 therein, as shown, or any suitable means is provided to insure that only air circulated by the unit B is discharged through said openings 22, 22.

In the present instance the air circulating unit B is illustrated as being of a known commercial blower typej, comprising a pair of blowers 23, 23 connected together by a casing 24 in which is disposed an elect-ric motor for operating the blowers. Said unit may, however, comprise only a single blower 23 and may have only a single outlet duct 20. In fact, no novelty is claimed in respect to the unit B per se and therefore the same may be of any suitable construction and may be arranged in any suitable manner so long as it is effective tp draw the circulated air only from the compartments c, c, and to deliver it other than at the open rear of the compartment b where the circulated air enters the device.

Slidably mounted in the compartment a is an open-top pan or tray 25 to contain a body of liquid w such as water, other liquid w, and when said pan or tray is fully inserted in said opening its front wall 26 closes the front of said compartment a as shown.

The device preferably is portable and is equipped with suitable handle means 2'I to facilitate carrying the same from one room or enclosure to another and from place to place. As will be understood, the device also is equipped with an electrical cord (not shown) for connecting the -Y unit B to a source of current.

Assuming that the pan or tray 25 contains a body of water or other liquid w and that said tray is fully inserted into the compartment a and that the unit B is set into operation, it will be apparent that the only path for flow of air to the side inlets I9 of said unit B is into the compartment b through the open rear thereof, downwardly from said compartment b through the centrally located opening or openings I8 in the horizontal partition wall I4 into the compartment a, laterally over and in surface contact with the water, or otheialiquid medium w in the pan or tray 25 to the bottoms of the compartments c, c, upwardly through said compartments c, c, to the openings 2|, 2I in the vertical partition Walls I5, I5, and through said openings 2 I, 2| into the said side inlets I9, I9 of the unit'B. Drawing of air by the unit B through the compartments c, c from the ends of the compartment a results in direct downward flow of air into said compartment a through the inlet opening I 8 at a rate dependent upon the rate of exhaustion of air from said compartment by the unit B. In

this connection, the size of the compartment the area of the opening I 8 and the capacity of the unit B are such that air rapidly is exhausted from the compartment a and a strong flow of air is induced directly downwardly through the opening I8. The downwardly flowing air exerts a positive pressure upon the surface of the liquid w not only directly beneath the opening I8, but more or less laterally outward in all directions from said opening until it reaches the zone of negative pressure induced by exhaustion of air from the chamber a. As a consequence, evaporation of the liquid and humidification of the air is retarded, especially following lowering of the temperature of the liquid by evaporation due to flow of the air thereover during initial operation of the device. In other words', during initial operation of the device, the liquid is more or less rapidly evaporated, but at a progressively decreasing rate, until its temperature is reduced the maximum amount dependent upon the volume, velocity, temperature and relative humidity of the air. Thereafter, however, the liquid is maintained at or substantially at its said maximum low temperature with little evaporation thereof, due, presumably, to the positive pressure exerted upon part of its surface by the incoming air and to the fact that its surface tension remains unbroken because of the incoming air being drawn into the compartment a as distinguished from being blown into said compartment and, furthermore, due to the provision for expansion of the incoming air within the compartment a. In any event, it has been found that following lowering of the temperature of the liquid by initial operation of the device, the liquid remains cool despite little subsequent evaporation thereof while the device continues to operate and has the effect of reducing the temperature of the air. Moreover, due to the incoming air flowing with considerable velocity directly downwardly against the vbody of liquid, the air effectively is cleansed of foreign matter, including such matter as may cause irritation of the nose and throat of persons who suffer from asthma, hay fever and the like, by an action akin to the action of centrifugal force, the foreign matter being projected into and being retained by the liquid. Accordingly, such persons derive an exceptional measure of comfort from air supplied by the device. On the other hand, the device is conducive to the comfort of persons generally not only because oi' the cooling effect of the air delivered therefrom, but` because of the capacity ofthe delivered air to absorb moisture from the persons.

As will be apparent, the casing A may have only a single compartment c at one end thereof and the unit B may have only a single side inlet in communication with said single compartment c. Two compartments c, one at each end of the casing A.A and a unit B having two side inlets in communication with the two compartments c. c. respectively, are preferred. however, to increase the capacity and the efficiency of the device. Moreover, the opening` or openings I1 and I8 preferably are arranged to cause the circulated air to ow over the maior portion of the surface of the medium w which is of'large surface area due to the pan or tray 25 being coextensive in length and width with the casing A. The device thus is highly efficient in operation.

From the foregoing description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings. it is believed that the construction and operation of the device will be clearly understood and its advantages appreciated. It is desired to point out. however, that while only a single specific structural embodiment of the device has been illustrated and described, the same is readily capable of embodiment in specifically different structures within its spirit and scope as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An air conditioning and circulating device comprising a casing, a horizontal wall in said casing near the bottom thereof separating the 'vertical partition walls extending between Said horizontal wall and the top of said casing near the ends of the latter, respectively, dividing said space into a central chamber and two vertically extending passageways beyond the ends thereof, said central chamber having an opening for admission of air thereto, said horizontal wall having' a central opening for fiow of air from said central chamber downwardly into said bottom compartment and over a body of water contained therein, said horizontal wall also having a pair of end openings alined with said passageways, respectively, for ilow of air from the ends of said bottom compartment to said passageways, and a motor-driven suction unit in said central chamber having side air inlets in communication with said passageways, respectively, said unit further having air outlet means through a wall of said central chamber for discharge of air from the device remote from the opening for admitting air to said central chamber.

2. An air conditioning and circulating unit comprising a casing, aV horizontal wall in said casing near the bottom thereof separating the same into a bottom compartment to contain a body of water and a space thereabove, a pair of vertical partition walls extending between said horizontal wall and the top of said casing near the ends of said space dividing the latter into a central chamber and two vertically extending passageways beyond the ends thereof, said casing having a rear opening for admission of air to said central chamber, said horizontal wall having a central opening for ow of air from said central chamber downwardly into said bottom compartment and over water contained therein, said horizontal wall also having a pair of end openings alined with said passageways, respectively, or flow of air from the ends of said bottom compartment to said passageways, and a motor driven .suction unit in said central chamber having side inlets in communication with said passageways, respectively, said unit further having air outlet means disposed to discharge air through the front Wall of said central chamber.

3. A device as set forth in claim 1 including a water-containing tray removably mounted in the bottom compartment.

WILLIAM R. MOBLEY.

.REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in-the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,985,689 Persons Dec. 25, 1934 2,031,055 McKinney, Feb. 18, 1936 760,061 Dubuis May 17, 1904 l5 1,042,055 Theisen Oct. 22, 1912 1,853,421 Harris Apr. 12, 1932 

